Ex-LRA commander Kwoyelo to appeal 40-year sentence

“We are appealing the sentence and the orders they (judges) have made. Our client and we feel that some of the sentences imposed on him do not reflect the true ends of justice. They are long sentences, of course, and the maximum which they have imposed is 40, plus the deduction for someone who has already spent 15 years,” Mr Ocheing stated, adding: “We feel there are flaws in the sentence and we want to indicate that we will be going to the Court of Appeal and where need be maybe to the Supreme Court so that some of the issues we are challenging, are clarified.” 

The ICD 40-year sentence on Friday afternoon followed the court’s August 2024 ruling in which it convicted Kwoyelo of up to 44 charges out of 78 charges slapped against him. 

 Justice Elubu read the sentence. 

“For all these counts and offences for which he was found guilty, it is deemed that the sentence of 40 years which was slapped on the charges of murder,” Justice Elubu said, adding: “The overall criminality of the accused person is reflected in all the sentences of the 44 counts and will run concurrently.” 

Justice Elubu told Kwoyelo that he has “the right of appeal within 14 days of this sentencing order.” Whereas the former LRA commander was sentenced to between five and 40 years for each of the 44 charges, Justice Elubu, the head of the panel of the four ICD judges, ordered that he will concurrently serve the sentences for each of the cases less than 15 years in which he has been on remand. 

 For example, in count 15 where Kwoyelo was found guilty of the offence of murder as a crime against humanity and where he was found guilty of murder as a violation of article 3.1a common to the Geneva Conventions, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. 

“That period is reduced by the 15 years that he has spent in lawful custody, and he will, therefore, serve 25 years in prison. He has been on remand for the past 15 years,” Justice Elubu ruled. 

 Not satisfied

 Before the sitting could be adjourned, Mr Caleb Alaka, Kwoyelo's defence lead counsel, sought the court’s permission to be allowed to consult with Kwoyelo during which Kwoyelo asked them to file an appeal. Alaka told the court that his client had objected to the sentence on grounds that it is not fair and balanced.

 On October 14 2024, while appearing before the same panel of judges, Kwoyelo requested the ICD to hand him a lighter sentence since he was abducted in childhood and that his life in captivity was already enough imprisonment. He said handing him a lighter sentence would give him the privilege to reunite and live with his family. 

“I spent most of my time in captivity so the court should allow me to go out there and take care of my old mother since my father was killed during the war and there is no one to look after her,” he pleaded. 

 The charges Kwoyelo is convicted on are on charge counts 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, and 92. 

 The charges for which he was convicted and subsequently sentenced, ranged from murder as a crime against humanity, murder as a violation of Article 3(1) (a) common to the Geneva Conventions, pillaging as a violation of Article 3 (1) (b) common to the Geneva Conventions, and outrage upon personal dignity as a violation of Article 3 of the UN Convention. 

 Others included sexual gender-based crimes, inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, sexual violence crimes, and enslavement as a crime against humanity, among others. 

 Reparation

 In the sentencing ruling, the court also ordered the victims’ counsel to file an application that would facilitate a separate proceeding to determine the model of reparation for Kwoyelo’s victims. “In those proceedings, the victims’ counsel is directed to make a formal application in which the attorney general shall be joined as a party. The victims’ counsel shall file that application and serve it by November 8, 2024.” 

Kwoyelo was appearing before the judges who were sitting at Gulu High Court circuit in Gulu City. The panel of judges included Justices Elubu, Duncan Gaswaga, Stephen Mubiru, and Andrew Bashaija. 

 Mr Robert Mackay, the lead counsel for the victims, said his team is now ready to file the application for the reparations heading. “As the court has ordered, we shall engage in reparation proceedings to ensure that the victims of crimes are put in a place, or a better place, for the injuries and the sufferings they have gone through for the last decade in Northern Uganda.” 

According to Mackay, their biggest burden is to ensure that the victims are urgently supported now that Kwoyelo has been sentenced. “He has been punished, but what happens to the victims who can no longer go to their gardens to dig, who cannot go to hospitals on their own because they are lame, maimed, others who have died, schools which were burnt down, hospitals which were brought down? That is what we are looking at on behalf of the victims.”

Kwoyelo case

 Kwoyelo’s case had 53 prosecution witnesses and four defence witnesses, including legal experts whose roles were to handle the large volumes of information regarding the case. 

 Kwoyelo was arrested on March 3, 2009. His prosecution, however, has since been dragging due to a number of bottlenecks, including the Covid-19 lockdown. 

 On August 2, the ICD sitting was held at the Gulu High Court Chambers in the last leg to allow the three trial (court) assessors to give their opinions on the case. 

 In December 18, 2023, the ICD judges upheld 78 out of the 93 charges against Kwoyelo in a sitting held at Gulu High Court chambers. 

 One of the commanders of the LRA, Kwoyelo was captured by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in March 2009. 

 Subsequently, he was brought back to Uganda and detained at Luzira Upper Prison. While at Luzira on January 12, 2010, Kwoyelo made a declaration before the officer in charge of the prison, renouncing rebellion and seeking amnesty.

 In 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled in Kwoyelo’s favour since he had renounced rebellion before ordering his release. However, he was re-arrested, with the Supreme Court overturning the Constitutional Court’s decision before ordering his trial before the High Court.

CHARGES

The International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court on Friday convicted Thomas Kwoyelo of 44 charges out of the 78 charges slapped against him. He was found guilty of committing murder, as a crime against humanity, sexual violence, enslavement, among other charges.